Highest drop 17m
1hr round trip
Very short, mostly horizontal gorge with a very beautiful final waterfall.
Public access, but courtesy call required to Manager of;
Boyle River Outdoor Education Center Ph/Fax: (03) 315 7082 www.boyle.org.nz
A full description of the canyon is in the Canyoning in NZ guidebook.
All in good condition, anchors and cable on top rappel a bit messy but fine. Steel cable handline good. Checked all. Some additional bolts as back ups in high flow were not tight – check if in high flow.
Main pool has filled in some, was deeper last Summer.
Lower jump pool great fun as usual.
Fun little canyon if in area.
fun small canyon.
Entry a bit hard to find. We ended up abseiling in 100 meters above the original entrance.
R1 all good, bolts a bit deformed but no visual crags or so.
R2 Steel handling perfect condition, Anchor itself is a bit funny, bolts are not in perfect rock, but everything is backed up with a steel cable going around a three above.
Check your jumps !
Fun morning out!
Bottom of approach track: It seemed possible to scramble straight up river right bank after checking water levels at the bottom of R2, to reach the approach track. However we bumped into some of the OED crew and they preferred for people to go back down the creek 50m and around to avoid the steep sidling on the immediate river right after R2.
Put in: We also overshot the put-in scouting on Saturday, then found the mossy handline on the way down and went back on Sunday. Relative to the topo map shown in the guide book, it’s a bit lower. Below the apex of the creek bend. Description of terrain is a more accurate guide than the track drawn on the topo map.
Canyon conditions: Pretty low flow so features were easy. R1 has the old cable handline loosely coiled at top (dangling from bottom anchor) so would quite possibly get washed into the flow and be dangling mid chute after the next flood.
Really cool wee canyon. Short, sharp, action packed and definitely worth a stop. A great way to break up a big drive!
We jumped the 17m drop, awesome fun.
All bolts and hand lines in excellent condition.
January 16th 2023.
We tightened all anchors as this was required.
Good flow.
Main pool still shallow.
Lower pool excellent for jumping.
Boyle River easy to cross. Very warm day.
Visited 01/2020. Handline before R1 is torn off and is hanging of its bottom attachment point at R1 anchor. No problem in low flow, though – Body belay also possible from a big stone above waterfall.
Steel handline above R2 is ok. All rope handlines covered by moss – check them before use.
Visited Feb 2017.
All good. Was even a hand line around bottom pool.
R1 ‘s hand line to anchor had trapped a pile of drift wood debries (from a flood i guess), but appears not to have damaged bolt. Moved Debries.